Travel Leaders Group Asks Frequent Fliers ‘What Would You Do?’

We’ve all been there: trying to find some peace and comfort on a flight while your fellow passengers engage in a variety of behaviors that make flying—especially on full flights—even more challenging than it already is.

Travel Leaders Group recently explored the trials of air travel passengers with a survey of some 3,400 U.S. consumers, conducted from April 4 to 30, 2016. The survey asked participants: “What would you do?” when faced with a variety of thorny situations involving pets on planes, in-flight fights, reclining airline seats, children behaving badly and passengers not using headphones when listening to music, watching movies or playing video games.

“Last year, an all-time record of more than 798 million American airline passengers took to the skies,” said Travel Leaders Group CEO Ninan Chacko. “That means there are plenty of opportunities for travelers, perhaps unknowingly, to commit a gaffe – from the constant tapping on the seatback monitor to reclining so much that its uncomfortable for the passenger behind you.”

A vast majority of passengers let the flight crew handle any in-flight disagreements, said Chacko. “But in many other instances, there aren’t clearly defined right and wrong answers on how to handle particular situations,” he said.

Some results of the survey on different aspects of Airline Etiquette include:

In-flight Fights and Bad Behavior

After multiple incidents of passengers fighting onboard, survey participants were asked, “If you saw two airline passengers fighting, in-flight, what would you do?” The responses included:

Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.

73.3%

Step in and try to defuse the situation.

7.8%

Sit quietly and say nothing.

4.6%

Capture the video on my smartphone to share with others.

1.3%

Not sure.

13.0%

When asked, “If a child was behaving badly on a plane, one that was old enough to understand their actions, and the parents did nothing to correct the behavior, what would you do?” The responses were:

Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.

54.8%

Sit quietly and say nothing.

14.4%

Say something directly to the parents.

13.4%

Say something directly to the child.

6.6%

Not sure.

10.8%

Reclining Seats

When asked, “If the person in the airline seat in front of you reclined their seat so much that you had difficulty lowering your tray table or perhaps were unable to open up a laptop, what would you do?” The responses:

Say something directly to the person.

41.6%

Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.

31.6%

Sit quietly and say nothing.

15.3%

Jam your knees into the back of the seat.

3.7%

Not sure.

7.8%

Conversely, when asked, “If you were trying to recline your airplane seat and you were hindered by the person behind you, in some way, what would you do?” The responses were:

Say something directly to the person.

27.8%

Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.

27.5%

Sit quietly and say nothing.

27.0%

Continuously try to recline my seat

5.0%

Not sure.

12.7%

Music and Videos

Watching videos or in-flight television or listening to music is a standard diversion on flights. But the volume on these can be disruptive and annoying for surrounding passengers.

When asked, “If an adult passenger seated near you on an airplane was listening to music or watching videos without using headphones, what would you do?” The responses included:

Say something directly to the individual.

32.6%

Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.

21.3%

Put in my own earphones to drown them out.

18.4%

Do nothing because it would not bother me.

13.0%

Sit quietly and do nothing, even though the sound bothers me.

3.7%

Try to find an alternative seat.

3.5%

Not sure.

7.5%

When asked, “Many newer airplanes have seatback monitors for watching movies or playing games. If the person behind you continuously tapped the monitor on the back of your seat during the flight, what would you do?” the responses were:

Say something directly to the person.

29.5%

I don’t think it would bother me.

28.6%

Call a flight attendant and let him/her handle the situation.

18.3%

Sit quietly and say nothing - even though it bothers me.

10.7%

Not sure.

12.9%

Pets on Planes:

When asked, “If you were seated on airplane next to, or near, someone who had a pet (a dog or cat) with them, what would you do?” The responses were:

Make small talk about pets.

38.4%

Sit quietly and say nothing - would not bother me.

29.1%

I would ask to be reseated, I’m allergic to animals.

14.1%

I would ask if the seatmate could be reseated.

4.4%

Sit quietly and say nothing - even though it bothers me.

3.0%

Not sure.

11.1%

The Travel Leaders Group gathers its data from its network of more than 40,000 travel agents and – for the eighth consecutive year – from American consumers through social media channels including Facebook and Twitter, as well as through direct contact with clients of the Group’s companies: its flagship Travel Leaders brand, All Aboard Travel, Cruise Specialists, Nexion, Protravel International, Results! Travel, SinglesCruise.com, Tzell Travel Group, and Vacation.com units.

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